


A very Malec Christmas

by Childofthesky



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Caramel, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas market, Fluff, M/M, Mulled wine, Selling alcohol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 17:58:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13059198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Childofthesky/pseuds/Childofthesky
Summary: Alec and Izzy sell hot drinks of all kinds at a Christmas market, mulled wine and hot chocolate, hot egg nog with whipped cream, hot fruit juice for the kids…And Magnus has a little booth opposite them selling homemade caramel.He tries to woo Alec who keeps saying he doesn’t like sweets but Magnus doesn’t give up that easily.





	A very Malec Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> It's nearly Christmas, which mean I really wanted to write a Malec Christmas story!  
> Ta-daaa!  
> I got the idea when I walked our town's small Christmas market and came up with this fluff idea.  
> HUGE thanks to yellow_craion  for being my beta, as well as rapha-did-no-wrong on Tumblr for helping me out! 
> 
> I'd also like to thank and credit the increcible NOKSINDRA on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram for letting me use her absolutely perfect picture for this fanfiction! (Check her out if you don't know her. This girl's skills are amazing!!)
> 
>  
> 
> Now, I hope you'll enjoy this cute oneshot!  
> xx

The snow was falling down in big flakes, gently landing on the frozen ground as Alec stopped and looked into the sky. He loved snow.  
The quiet sound, engulfing the whole town and especially the landscape around them and even though many people cursed it, it also brought some kind of peace upon them. It was telling them Christmas was near.

“Alec. Hellooo?”

He looked over to where Isabelle his sister was waiting next to their booth with two metal barrels next to her.

“Would you be so kind as to help me carry these inside if I’m allowed to disturb your daydreaming? They’re kind of heavy”, she chuckled and Alec grinned, his cheeks blushing a little.

“I wasn’t daydreaming, just enjoying the snow. Most people don’t, but I love it”, he clarified as he lifted the heavy barrel with Izzy’s help and she nodded, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, I know you’re a sap for such kind of things. But we need to get two more barrels until we open in an hour”, she instructed and Alec nodded as they placed the barrel down inside their booth.

“Okay, I get the barrels with the dolly and you check on the heating and get the whipped cream ready”, he suggested and Izzy nodded.

“Sure, go ahead.”

Alec got the two remaining barrels off their truck and wheeled them over to their booth with the dolly, where he stacked them in the back, attached to the heating and beer pump they used to serve the drinks. When he was done he looked around for Izzy and spotted her outside talking to a someone who must have just set up their stuff, previously empty booth across theirs.  
Izzy was laughing at something the person, who Alec couldn’t see cause he was in his booth in the back, was saying so Alec shrugged and did the final preparations on their dishwasher and checked the temperatures of the liquids one last time.

 

It was a tradition, Izzy and Alec putting up their booth every year at the local Christmas market to sell all kinds of hot beverages, some with alcohol like egg nog with whipped cream and mulled wine of course, but also hot chocolate or hot fruit juices for the kids.

They had started it a few years back and got into the Christmas business just for fun back then, their parent’s owning a pub downtown so they were used to serving drinks, and with a little of their help, they had set up their own big booth with the correct equipment and made a name for themselves.

The “Lightwood Christmas Pub” was a success through and through, and Alec loved the cold season and selling the drinks next to his sister in their own place.

 

Alec had already sold some drinks when Izzy returned, which he didn’t mind cause they only took occasional breaks, which was harder the later it got since the market was buzzing by the time. She was grinning and holding a small paper bag, chewing something and looked very pleased with herself.

“Hey, sorry I got caught up but I had to say hello to our stunning new neighbor across us. He’s selling caramel and I’m telling you, it’s the best you’ll ever try”, she said and held out the bag towards Alec who scrunched his nose a little.

“You know I don’t like sweets”, he pointed out so Izzy shrugged.

“Leaves more for me and you have no idea what you’re missing out on”, she grinned, then put the bag away and went to serve some hot chocolate to a bunch of school kids. They did their thing for a while, then Izzy suddenly nodded towards the new booth on the other side, which, Alec had noticed, was always a little crowded.

“You should introduce yourself later, Magnus is so nice and very hot. Totally your type”, she said straight out and looked at Alec who nearly spilled the hot liquid all over his hands he had just been handling as he gave her a shocked look.

“Iz!”, he choked out coughing but his sister only smiled mischievously.

“What, he is and you should just do it”, she urged but Alec shook his head.

“I can’t believe you”, he groaned as he finished filling the mug with steaming mulled wine and handed it to an older lady, who had a wool booth just a few rows down every year, so they were familiar. She gave him a wide smile as she accepted the mug.

“The miss is right, I just bought a bag of his delicious caramel and the handsome fella was really nice”, she agreed and winked at Alec, who blushed and shook his head firmly.

“Would you leave me alone if I do it later”, he mumbled and Izzy gave him a pleased smile.

“Trust me, you won’t regret it”, she winked, then went back to work.

 

After a few hours, Izzy told Alec to go and take his break as it was kind of slow before the people would be swarming in later. So Alec put off his apron, grabbed his wallet from his bag and headed towards the food section of the market. He settled for a pot of potato soup to fill his stomach, then strolled around a little, watching the people fuss over the little things all the booths were selling. He stopped by the old lady’s wool booth, where he found a knitted beanie in black and bought it.

When Alec got back near their booth, he hesitated for a second, then sighed and stepped towards the infamous booth Izzy had urged him to visit.

Alec waited for a group of women to leave, then he stepped closer, the sweet smell of the caramel already filling his nose and he furrowed his brow.

“Ah, welcome dear. What’s wrong, why the critical brow?”, a voice said and Alec blinked up only to meet the most wonderful eyes he had ever seen, the ones of the guy selling the caramel.

And.. okay.  
Izzy had been right.

He was gorgeous, an Asian tall male with gold speckled around his eyes and his hair spiked up, wearing a blue apron and a giant smile.

“Cat got your tongue? Maybe a bite of this helps”, he winked and held out a paper plate filled with caramel pieces out to Alec, who was still staring at the other one like an idiot.

Alec cleared his throat and shook his head.

“Uh.. no thanks.. I uh.. I don’t really like sweets”, he croaked out and Magnus raised his eyebrows.

“Then what brings you to my booth darling?” he asked bemusedly and Alec swallowed.

“I, uh.. Iz my.. uh my sister you met earlier, she, uh..”, he stumbled and cursed himself or acting like an idiot in front of the obviously hot guy.

“Iz.. oh you mean _Izzy_ ”, the guy said and nodded across the street to where Izzy was watching them with a giant smile on her face and Alec nodded, not daring to look at her.

“Yeah, she’s my sister. I work there. I’m Alec”, he managed to say and the guy smiled and held out his hand.

“I’m Magnus Bane, nice to meet you Alec. Is that short for Alexander?”, he asked as they shook hands and Alec nodded slowly, still staring at the other one.

“Yeah. Nice to meet you”, he said an Magnus grinned.

“Pleasure. Guess I’ll see you around then”, Magnus said as a few people stopped in front of his booth and Alec quickly nodded, taking a step back.

“Yeah, I uh. See you”, he mumnled, then turned and fled for the Lightwood booth. When he got his apron back on and stepped next to Izzy he held up his hand.

“Don’t say anything”, he warned her and Izzy chuckled while shaking her head.

“Nice first impression, Alec”, she laughed and Alec tried desperately not to blush too hard.

 

“One mug of your finest alcoholic beverage, please”, a familiar voice said and Alec turned around to look into the smiling face of Magnus standing in front of their booth.

It was already late, and the Lightwood’s had served a lot of hot drinks, and Izzy smiled at Magnus who was still looking at Alec until the latter moved and nodded.

“Uh yeah, what do you want? Mulled wine?”, Alec asked and Magnus shrugged.

“You decide. Whatever is best”, he smiled, then looked at Izzy.

“I thought about what you said about the knitted gloves and I do think I could use some. Where did you say the lovely lady’s booth was again?”, he asked and Izzy started telling him where to find it while Alec listened with half an ear as he prepared the drink for Magnus.

He used their mulled wine and added a bit of rum into it with a dash of lemon and some more cinnamon, then placed it in front of the other male.

“Here”, Alec said and Izzy grinned a knowing smile, recognizing the smell instantly. Alec’s famous and best drink which was their flagship and very popular.

Magnus handed Alec the money, then lifted the steaming mug to take a sip. He swallowed, then his eye slit up and he looked up at Alec who placed the change in front of him.

“This is amazing! I swear I’ve never drank any better mulled wine than this one”, he fancied and Izzy grinned.

“It’s Alec’s recipe, our best and most famous mulled wine” she provided and Magnus let out a content sigh which was… okay doing things to Alec watching him slurping from the mug.

“Alexander, this is heavenly. I’m definitely gonna finish my days with one of these from now on”, he declared. Alec furrowed his brow.

“Wait finish? Who’s looking after your booth?”, he suddenly asked but noticed in that moment that said booth was already closed. Magnus shrugged with a smile.

“I’m sold out for today. Gonna make more tomorrow but it wasn’t bad for my first day. Oh and Izzy, darling, I saved you these since they were your favorite”, Magnus said then reached inside his pocket and handed Izzy, who squealed in delight, a paper bag.

“Thank you Magnus! Your caramel is seriously the best”, she said and bit into one, then held out the bag towards Alec but quickly took it back.

“Right, no sweets”, she reminded herself but shook her head.

“You have no idea what you’re missing out on, big bro”, she shrugged, then went to the back of the booth to put the bag away. Magnus smiled after her, then his eyes set on Alec again.

“So you really don’t like sweets, huh”, he noted. Alec nodded.

“It’s just not my thing”, he answered but Izzy punched his arm when she got back and he yelped then shot her a look.  
“You would if you tried Magnus caramel”, she teased in a sing-sang voice and Magnus chuckled about the sibling fight.

“Leave me alone would you”, Alec protested until Magnus cleared his throat and put the empty mug down in front of Alec who blushed a little, while Izzy only grinned.

“Anyway, thank you for this lovely drink, Alexander. I guess we’ll see each other tomorrow and maybe I can change your mind about the sweets”, he winked, waved at Izzy then slung his bag over his shoulder and left. After a minute of Alec staring after him, Izzy punched his arm again and he cursed and shot her an angry look.

“Ow, what was that for?”, he grumbled as he put the mug away. Izzy wasn’t having it.

“I told you so and how can you decline his caramel, _Alexander_ ”, she groaned and Alec blushed a little.

“I.. just leave me alone, okay?”, he said but Izzy only laughed then turned and served newly arrived customers. It was half an hour later Alec noticed Magnus never got his money back for giving him the mug back.

 

It went on for a few days from then on. Magnus greeted the siblings when they all opened their booths and he smiled and winked at Alec a lot. One day, Magnus made a particular innuendo when they met at a food booth where Alec got himself a sausage, which caused him to not look at Magnus for the rest of the day and made him hide in the back when Magnus got his usual end-of-the-day-mug with a really red face.

Izzy only laughed at Alec for acting so shy and encouraged him to just flirt back since Magnus actually meant it.

Magnus bought the knitted gloves Izzy had recommended him and he complimented Alec’s beanie on one day which Alec smiled about for the rest of the day. He also provided Izzy with her daily dose of fantastic caramel, each day a different flavor.

Magnus’ caramel really was the best, his unique creations made him sold out nearly every evening. It varied from cinnamon ones to apple cheesecake, eggnog, toasted almond chocolate, which was most people’s favorite, but he also had special ones like spiced pear and smoky olive oil caramel.

All in all, a huge success.

But with all the nice flavors and the people praising it all over the market, there was one person he couldn’t woo with his sweets.

Alec.

And it bugged Magnus.

They had gotten to know each other a little with Magnus stopping by every evening and Alec finally opening up (maybe after Izzy threatened to bake a cake for his birthday which was next month, and she was definitely not born to be a baker) and they enjoyed talking after they discovered they both loved the Marvel superheroes movies and reading science fiction novels.

 

So one evening, after Magnus had closed his booth he casually made his way over to the Lightwood Pub and smiled when Alec put a steaming mug in front of him with a shy grin, already used to the routine. Magnus stepped aside as the Lightwood’s served more customers, winking at Alec whenever the other one looked his direction and he enjoyed the flustered happy look on Alec’s face. When Magnus finished his mug, he took a deep breath and placed the mug back in front of Alec.

“Thanks for my daily dose of the famous Lightwood mulled wine”, he grinned and Alec nodded at him.

“Glad to be of service. It’s been quite a busy day, hasn’t it?”, he asked and Magnus nodded.

“Yes it has. Sold out and happy”, Magnus affirmed, then he cleared his throat.

“Uhm.. I wanted ask you something actually”, he said nervously and Alec raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah? What’s up?” Magnus glanced at Izzy who smirked and nodded in Alec’s back then Magnus focused back on Alec.

“Alexander, would you like to go on a date with me tomorrow?”, he asked and held his breath, watching the surprised look, then the blush on Alec’s face as the other one slowly nodded.

“I.. yeah that sounds great”, Alec answered shyly and Magnus sighed happily and grinned.

“Great! Let’s meet in front of the golden gate at 11 shall we?”, Magnus asked and Alec nodded, then he suddenly furrowed his brows.

“Wait, how did you know I was free tomorrow?”, he asked but Magnus was already waving his goodbye and escaping with a giant smile on his face. Alec watched him leave, then he turned towards Izzy with an accusing look.

“You forced Jace to cover me tomorrow so I could get a day off”, he said and Izzy shrugged, the smug look on her face telling no lies.

“I just wanted to help you a little, since you would have never asked him out yourself”, she pointed out and Alec rolled his eyes.

“Thanks.” Izzy nodded happily, then she waved he finger at him.

“Wear your red scarf and black jacket”, she instructed and Alec rolled his eyes.

“Okay”, he laughed, then they went back to work as Magnus made his way home, both guys wearing a big smile on their faces.

 

Alec arrived at the golden gate, the entrance to the Christmas market on the next day a little late since his train had been packed with people, a normal busy Saturday. He instantly noticed Magnus leaning against the wall of the town hall, and he smiled when he walked up to his date.

“Hey, sorry I’m late, the train’s been really busy. Are you cold?”, Alec asked a little worried he had already ruined the date but Magnus shook his head and held up his gloved hands and pointed at his giant blue scarf.

“Not one bit, I purchased this wonderfully warm piece last night from our wool lady. Now, shall we go? I didn’t get a chance to take a close look at the market yet and I have a feeling you know where to look for the special things”, he winked at Alec who smiled.

“I can show you around”, he suggested and Magnus nodded excited.

“That’s the spirit. Let’s go”, he said happily, hooked his arm into Alec’s and together they started their stroll. Snow was slowly falling down, clinging to their hair and making their cheeks rosy as they snuggled close while walking and peeked into the booths selling all kins of knickknack.  
Magnus nudged Alec side when he found something nice and in the end he bought a little figure with a small bell on top, explaining to Alec that his cat, Chairman Meow, would love this to play with.

As they walked they shared more stories from their lives, Magnus telling Alec about how he moved to this town a few weeks ago and that one of his friends from Uni was looking after the booth that day. Alec smiled when Magnus told him that, since he had made sure to have the whole day just to spend it with Alec.

They visited the wool lady, who smiled at them both and then they made their way towards the Lightwood Pub, where Izzy and Jace were working. Magnus excused himself for a second to talk to Catarina, his best friend running his business that day, while Alec ordered them two mugs of the special mulled wine. Izzy handed them over as Jace was drying the washed mugs, eying Alec warily.

“I can’t believe you persuaded me to cover you so you could go on a date. _You_ . On a _date_ ”, Jace said in disbelief but Alec shrugged and looked over his shoulder at where Magnus was talking to Catarina. He noticed Alec looking and winked, making the latter blush.

“So, how’s it going? Are you having fun?”, Izzy asked with a smirk and Alec nodded.

“It’s great, he’s great and I’m enjoying it a lot. Thanks”, he grinned, and in that moment Magnus stepped next to him, smiling.

“I’m glad you do, cause I’m enjoying myself as well”, he said and Alec blushed and he quickly buried his nose in his mug. Magnus winked at Izzy, then he suddenly placed a small paper bag in front of Alec with a determined look. Alec raised one eyebrow.

“What’s that?”, he asked curiously an Magnus smiled, taking a sip from his mug.

“Caramel”, he simply said and Alec frowned a little, uncertain how to react.

“Oh, uhm… you know I..”, he started but Magnus rolled his eyes and nodded.

“You don’t like sweets, I know. Try it. Trust me”, he said.

Alec glanced at Jace and Izzy, who were both watching the scene, then he looked back at Magnus who was wearing such a content look on his face, Alec nodded slowly.

“Okay. I trust you”

So he tried it.

And..

His eyes widened as little as he was chewing, the flavor making him smile and after he swallowed he blinked at Magnus, who gave him a satisfied smirk.

“It’s salted. Sea salted caramel which I specially made for you”, he explained to a speechless Alec and Izzy pressed her lips together in joy, watching her brother’s stunned expression.

“I usually only make unique flavored caramel to sell but for you I made an exception and went for this. Sweet, but salted. Do you like it?”, Magnus asked, his ears a bit red and Alec nodded intently, a smile appearing on his face.

“It’s totally delicious, thank you so much”, he said happily and Magnus returned the smile.

“You’re welcome, Alexander”, he said, went to grab his mug but Alec caught his hand. Magnus looked at him a little confused, narrowing his eyes at Alec’S sudden intense stare. Alec swallowed.

“Can… Can I kiss you?”, he asked, his voice a little husky and his eyes darted down to Magnus lips which were slightly open, then u again to meet his eyes. Time seemed to freeze for a moment but then Magnus smirked, squeezed Alec’s hand lightly and tilted his head.

“I'm all yours”, he winked and let out a little surprised yelp when Alec pulled him towards himself and pressed his lips on Magnus’.

The kiss tasted of caramel, Alec’s soft lips and cold cheeks against Magnus’. They both grinned when they separated, with the awing of Izzy and the cheers of Jace in the back who Alec flipped off while rolling his eyes playfully, still holding Magnus close.

“You never cease to amaze me, Alexander”, Magnus said, then he leaned forward again, slung his arms around Alec’s neck and kissed him passionately.

 

They walked back towards the exit, their arms hooked after they said goodbye to Izzy, Jace and Catarina both wearing happy smiles on their faces. At the station they kissed again, and Magnus sighed against Alec’s lips.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?”, he asked his voice sounding hopeful and Alec nodded intently.  
“Definitely. Can you bring more of the caramel?”, he asked mischievously and Magnus let out a small laugh but nodded.

“Only for you, Alexander”, he winked, then they said goodbye.

When Alec was nearly down the steps, Magnus called his name again, making Alec look back up the stairs.

“Merry Christmas, Alexander!”, Magnus shouted, waving his armsenthusiastically and Alec laughed, waving back at him, shaking his head.

“Merry Christmas, Magnus!”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Here's a link to the recipes of the caramel Magnus is making (which I simply used like this. credits to the owner of the page!):  
> https://www.babble.com/best-recipes/homemade-caramels-the-perfect-holiday-gift/
> 
>  
> 
> P.S: I'm sorry those links don't work.. I tried to look up how to do it and got it and.. they just won't work. I have no clue what's wrong. If anyone knows how to make them work please write me T_T


End file.
